Police have been given more time to question five suspected terroristsReuters

Scotland Yard has been given more time to question five suspected terrorists arrested in Dover and east London.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's counter-terrorism unit SO15, supported by officers from Kent Police and the Met's Specialist Firearms Command, stopped a vehicle leaving the UK at Dover ferry port, a popular route to mainland Europe, under the Terrorism Act.

They arrested a 33-year-old man and a 43-year-old man on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism.

A third man was arrested at Dover ferry port on Monday 1 December, hours after two men, aged 24 and 40, were apprehended in east London. All were arrested on suspicion of preparing terror attacks.

The men remain in custody after warrants for further detention were granted on Tuesday, 2 December.

Four addresses in east London, one in south London, and two in North Wales are being searched as part of the investigation. A number of the searches are ongoing.